I was sitting at a table set on the terrace attached to my chamber, overlooking the town while sipping the fresh tea prepared by Cen. It was a few hours before midday on a certain, slightly cloudy day of the month of Flowerfall. The town below looked as lively as ever, even though, no, perhaps because it was announced that war would commence come first Frost.
“How is the tea, dear?”
“Perfect as always. But Cen, let the maids do it sometimes, they’re getting anxious if they would lose their jobs”
“Fufufu, letting another woman touch my husband’s tea... Now that is somewhere I must disobey you, my King”
Cen was sitting on my left with her own steaming tea. Upon her lovely little bout of jealousy, she snuggles up to me. We’re in private, so this is fine. No, this is recommended. No, I demand it. Her glossy chestnut hair gently sways in the slight breeze, and her smile that outshines the full moon has me mesmerized, my heart burns. Even after all these years, I am only her slave.
“Um, I’d like to talk now if you don’t mind. Vertue has me on a tight schedule and I need to leave for Mt. Ultima in 10 minutes”
Ah, I snap out of it. Right, the hero is sitting across from us also sipping, no, it appears he had quickly finished his tea. You should drink calmly, boy. Cen’s tea is the best in the world. I’d have anyone else hanged for such an action you know. Ah, that was half in jest. Well, it can’t be helped. My daughter has no mercy for tardiness after all.
“Hero Dark, please speak your mind freely. I have some clue as to what you wish to declare and I believe the King will receive it favorably”
“Hm? Jamex, you know something? I didn’t see any reports that would need the hero to personally meet me”
“It is but my conjecture, your highness. However, seeing the hero here, I believe my hypothesis should hold true. Still, I believe talk of such genre should be spoken by the hero himself, no?”
“That’s right, thanks Jamex. King Bron, I don’t know if you remember, but it was the night I came to this world. I told you this: I hate, I loathe, I despise that monstrous brute of a princess. I hate that bitch Vertue from the bottom of my heart! Something like that right?”
Somewhat nostalgic. It has been 2 months since the hero summoning, and incidentally, or perhaps consequentially, my daughter’s willful declaration of marriage was announced to the whole court. That was quite an uproar. The higher nobles were instantly dumbfounded. I put a hand to my forehead thinking how powerless I was in this situation. Not because I’m level 99 and my daughter is 4 times that, but because Cen standing beside me, had a beaming proud smile. One she makes when she successfully carries out her bigger schemes, one she made when she decided to steal my heart. Like mother, like daughter I suppose. I just hope Jers can grow up to be a normal king.
As the nobles switched from shock to anger and started shouting their complaints as if they were bartering in the commerce district, Vertue had already walked up to the hero, grabbed his wrist and forcefully dragged him off to play. I prayed that the hero may maintain his sanity. A useless prayer.
That night, he barged into the audience room while I was receiving a messenger from the Elven Territories (apparently the guards were powerless against him), and he was hysterical. He wasn’t wearing that novice adventurer-like garb he chose to take from the guest’s dressing room that morning. His appearance had, as expected, dramatically changed. He was donned in a large black cloak, one arm bandaged, with lines of violet running across, creating patterns and symbols on it. One of his black eyes had turned white with black specks floating on it, and his body and legs were garbed in a form-fitting black tightsuit. I reflexively used High Appraisal his equipment and status, but it was a failure. His equipment was all on or above Mythical Class, and his level was at least 50 higher than mine.
For half an hour he kept complaining about how he had enough of otherworld adventure, how the characters were bugged, how the main girl’s level of tsundere was completely unreasonable, all rounded up to his final statement of intense hatred for Vertue that he repeated just now. At the end of the ~30 minutes, I showed him a wry smile, feeling more pity than anything, and stayed otherwise silent. Cen was in her private office. Though her daughter was being jeered, she would probably find the situation amusing at worst, and use it as material for her novel, which was what she was working on at that time. She writes romances between different races, which seems to have become a hit with female adventurers.
After the hero’s words ended, seeing my reaction, he seemed to have realized something, and with slight tears collecting around his eyes, he dejectedly walked out of the premises. He hasn’t come complaining anymore since then, but he has been getting dragged along by Vertue and her party and the reports said that his potential as a hero was very favorable, as he was quickly catching up to the party members.
Now, two months after, he requested a formal, private meeting with the King and Queen, that is, Cen and I. His eyes were both black as before — probably a simple illusion spell — and he was dressed in formal clothes you would find a lower noble wearing. After Cen prepared the tea, he repeated the words once said in a frenzy, in a soft, wry smile. As if he was deeply regretting the actions of his past self and came to apologize, but his eyes were not those of seeking forgiveness, but ones that shone with heartfelt conviction. He took a deep breath.
“King Bron, Queen Cen. You should already know this, but I have to confess. I’ll keep it brief. That day, that night when I first came to announce my hatred for this world, I will not deny that that happened, those were my true feelings at that time. That day, Vertue, Lizx, Chlo, Sana, when they all ganged up and, stripped me, equipped me in Madness Class gear, packed my fingers full of rings with every form of stat boosts and multipliers on Legendary Class, cast over 1000 Mythical Class buffs, and finally warped me to floor 250 of the Dungeon of Sometime, all when I was only level 1... Well, I got to floor 2000 and escaped after clearing the last boss, but after 10 months in there, I find that the girls were checking on their equipment and roasting some Lust Goliath they hunted in the nearby Tensins Crevice in the 5 hours I was gone. It was all very sudden, they wouldn’t explain a thing, there’s such a thing as the story being too fast paced you know? Well, I did spend 10 months in a huge labyrinth — I later found out that they had all cleared it alone once — so I had some time to think and understand many things. It was a big help that G*og— Help Menu was buffed and boosted to tier 20. Though, the thing that really kept me going was a seething desire for revenge on those girls, especially Vertue. I desperately fought everything, leveled like crazy, mastered Chaos Magic to Legendary class, and just pushed on. Apparently, or should I say obviously, my affinity is for darkness and also speed, so I ended up creating a bullet hell build in the dungeon. Anyway, at one point, I found a good vein of Madness Ether at around 1800 floors down and started stockpiling it in the Infinitum Box, planning to use it on Vertue and let her go nuts in her mind for a 1000 years before killing her. Anyway, I got out, level 265, saw them, wanted to kill them right away, prepared my original magic Spiral Ether Armageddon, aimed the suicide attack straight at Vertue when... Lizx predicted it and applied Mind Zen on me”
He takes a breath. Brief huh. Must be slang that kids use nowadays. Jamex is my most trusted retainer. He said his daughter, Lizx would be delivering accurate reports pertaining to any sort of risks involving the hero, but there was nothing on his attempted murder. Ah, he said his level was 265 upon clearing the dungeon. That broke the record of Vertue’s 152, didn’t it. But that also means, he was only level 265 while all those girls were above their 300s, Virtue passed 400 recently, didn’t she? Since each level requires exactly double the experience needed for the previous, they would all have exponentially higher experience compared to him. Naturally, they wouldn’t see him as a threat at all, and what happened after was something like this.
~•••~
“Dark, I kinda understand what you’re going through, but calm down for now. Here, have some Lustmeat. It’s great for your...”
“... ... What did you do”
“? Ah, that. It’s called Mind Zen, you should learn it after you get to level 300, it really helps. Think of it as a special service from your friendly ol’ Lizzy here. Still, you sure were fast. We were thinking of going for another hunt since we thought you’d take another 5 hours or so, but, looks like you beat Vertue’s 5.5 hour record, good job. But that means your level won’t be...!?”
“What, is it Lizx?”
“Ah! Oh. Sana. Yeah, look at his level. You too Chlo.“
“Level, 265...!?”
“... ...”
“Hmm, hero, Hero~! You’re early~! Did you eat a Warp Bug from floor 999? Those taste re~aly bad you know~”
“Ah Vert, listen to this. Dark here cleared the dungeon, and his level is already over 250. His potential is— Wait! Is that lustmeat in your hand!?”
“Sorry, Lizx. you went to Dark Reaper 666 and Princess Vertue sneaked one in. It was my incompetence”
“No, that’s not the problem, Sana! Lustmeat takes off her curse, you know. Her monstrous sexual frustration comes out, you know!?”
“Hmm? Ah! Hero~! You’re level 265! I see, Lizx you were right! He’s got great potential~ I was right to choose you as my husband— no, no more talk. I love you~!!”
“S-Stay back woman! I hate you, I’ll never love you! I’ll kill you now with this Spiral Ether Armageddon— wait no, NO! Don’t touch me with your filthy— Ah, soft— no wait, the ether, it’s destablizi—”
“Oh! What’s this~! Madness Ether? And such a rich mixture too!? Oh my, is this a present for me? So thoughtful~!... Ok. Hexblade of the Succubus Queen, take it all! Ah Hero, thankyou! Now, where were we~ ?”
“Sana, Chlo! We’re doing formation Trinity Submergence | Princess Break. Go full power, and use everything you can— shit, his pants are down! You gotta start from first base, stupid Vert!! C’mon girls, if we let her run wild in this state, she’ll kill us all 100 times over once she comes back to normal. Sorry Dark, you’ll die a bit, but we’ll save you”
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~•••~
“So you died then? Just a little more and you could’ve made our girl a woman, fufufu”
“... ...Yes I died, but I had a few leftover Revives from the buffs Sana cast before I went into the dungeon, so I was back in about an hour. Fortunately, no irreparable mistakes had been made by Vertue, and the others successfully applied... Bloodbox Enema and flushed out the intoxicants from the lustmeat. I seriously don’t understand how Vertue’s Anti-Debuff Extrava doesn’t work for intoxication. Mine does, and Lizx and the others are fine too. Is it the curse?”
“... We still don’t know much about that curse”
Is what I answered, but uhm, Cen? Please, spare me from comments like that, can you? As a father, having my little girl become a woman is... No, the hero hates her, and she has the Curse of Purity so I can rest assured. Sure, she has declared him her fiance, but I’m sure she has thought it the best course to take for the country. Her personal desires on the matter shouldn’t exist. No, they cannot exist. No, I won’t allow it.
After that, the hero made another brief speech about how he reluctantly came to complain to me to rid himself of some of the frustration from that day, how the girls then took him to grind where they usually train, how he leveled tremendously fast and gained a Cheat Skill called Potential Share, making his party get half the leveling and stat potentials as him added to their own. Now all of them are, above... 400... ... And Vertue is, more than... f-f-five hundred fifty!!? I feel Cen discretely hold my hand to apply Mind Zen. Well, this and that happened and...
“This and that happened and, yesterday, even though I’m a hundred levels below her, I used everything at my disposal in our sparring match, and finally, for the first time, blew her sword out of her hands. Well, she got ticked off and got serious and I died once, but that’s fine”
This hero seems to die a lot. Well, the man himself appears to be fine with it, and that party of his is basically monsters already. No, wasn’t the 400s where you can ascend to minor godhood? Leaving that aside... So he actually beat her, in a sense. Right, that was her condition, wasn’t it. That she would marry any man who could conquer her in battle. But that’s wrong. The phrase implies that she would take any man who could sway her sword, who could shake her core, who could emblaze her heart in passion towards him and him only. It was a condition partly made on Cen’s guidance and geared towards her curse, a challenge to find her Prince Charming... I have a bad premonition.
“Maybe it was that time we fought those Rogue Minor Gods, or that time we accidentally caused Mt. Lushmore to erupt, or maybe that time with all those lucky happenings at the elven hotsprings. It was a pain, and I hated it. Mind Zen is a temporary measure, and it won’t eliminate our basest emotions. I must’ve gone mad because, at some point, I stopped hating those kinds of things. Fighting with Vertue and the others, going all those places, experiencing such rich adventure. Seeing Vertue’s striking smile when we save a village, her sparkling eyes when she gets a new sword, her dancing hair as we all get dyed in red, green, yellow monster blood. I do understand, I’m conscious of it. Maybe... her feelings are the same. I’d like to think... believe that that’s the reason she, that day when I revived after the sparring match, she grabbed my chin and we touched lips—”
As I thought, this punk bastard. Soiling my daughter with his filth. I stand. Dominating Aura, Unarmed +, Spirit Gauntlets, Quadelemental Chisel, Sharkskin Knuckle, Impact Exploder, Impact Imploder, Bears Claw, Sabers Tooth, Apes Strength, Dragons Tail.... I activate everything I can. The table is blown away. Cen activated a barrier and is sitting sipping her tea. Jamex also activates a barrier over the terrace to limit the collateral damage. This won’t even scratch him, but as the proud King of Albama, as a single Father of his daughter... I punch the bastard hero.
~•••~
“Kakaka, so that’s what happened! As always, you’re too doting Bron, Vertue will hate you, you know?”
“Urgh, stop it, Lilith, you know I’m self-conscious about it. You know what she’s been calling me lately? It’s pops! It’s POPS, dammit!? Who even taught her that? She was so cute when she was little, going, papa, papaa!, and when she entered the Academy at 10, she started respectfully addressing me as father. But then, she started adventuring, and eventually settled on dad. That was the still better! Now it’s pops! What is this, this sense of distance? That, that bastard hero, I’ll have him— Ah”
“fufufu, calm down dear, it’s high time our daughter spreads her wings, and soon, her... fufufu~”
Cen applies Mind Zen as I lost myself for a moment. But I beg you Cen, those off-hand remarks... our daughter doesn’t need to spread anything! I, I hope she doesn’t. No, I plead to the heavens she won’t.
It has been 10 days since I punched that bastard... and broke my arm (Both events having coincidentally happened on the same day and being completely unrelated). My old friend Lilith came to visit as an ambassador of the Elven Territories to discuss our prospects for the upcoming war... is the official stance. What she really came here to do, is introduce us to her new daughter.
“~hmm, so you’re the genius Mary we’ve been hearing all about”
“Please rest assured, Queen Cen. I am not interested in men, so you only need to be wary of mother”
“Ah! I see, fufufu. Then we shall get along swimmingly!”
Cen breaks the ice with Lilith’s so-called genius daughter Mary. Normally, I would be here alone with the visitors from other nations, but the presence of females means that Cen must be also present. She is extremely possessive of me, but I don’t mind. No, I appreciate it. No, I desire it! But the reason she would be wary of not only Lilith but also her daughter, it is only because... this daughter is another summoned being.
Officially, only one country is supposed to perform the summoning ritual for the hero. In the past, multiple countries did it in concurrence, and the heroes often clashed, in ideology and in the battlefield. Any hero has a strong following, so eventually, the countries themselves went to war, all sides suffering heavily before a truce was announced. And now, Albama and the Elven Territories are risking the same fate.
Mary is treated as a daughter of Lilith who came back to live with her after a long journey across the world. It is common knowledge that Lilith had many children with many men, disregarding size and species— in some parts, she is even known as the Mother of Earthplane. Mary does not seem to mind not being called as a hero, and has taken on Lilith’s surname as well.
“Kaka, so you won’t try a man, Mary? Well, that is fine. For us elves, enjoyment everything is life after all”
Lilith looks at me, her eyes shining with meaning. What. Cen is the Alpha and the Omega you know? Both my heart and soul are bound by chains to be held by her hands only. It’s an impregnable wall.
“Fufufu, every enjoyment has its risks you know, Lilith”
“Kakaka, and every risk has its rewards, Cen”
“Fufufu”
“Kakaka”
I can see sparks everywhere, lightning and tempest. The palace will be destroyed! No, it was an illusion? Why is Cen so worried? It’s not like I like little girls that way. When Lilith visited another time last month, the bastard hero, seemed to describe her as a loli. When he learned she was nearing 5000 years of age he starting shouting Legal Loli!! when Vertue elbowed him on the side and he spat blood.
Lilith Fraulein. An extremely rare True Ancestral Elf born amongst High Elves almost 5000 years ago. Elves typically have a lifespan of 500 years, High Elves having 2000, and both groups grow into adulthood by the age of 20 and stay that way until reaching the limits of their lifespan, where they start appearing older in an accelerated pace before death. The legendary True Ancestral Elf is said to be immortal, and there isn’t much known about them. Some even say they went extinct during the events of some ancient war. Perhaps Lilith’s juvenile figure is a symptom of that immortality, but Cen suspects artificial means being involved.
“Mary, was it? I’ve been told you were summoned 2 weeks ago, but for the last 10 days you were secluding yourself?”
“Yes, King Bron. I collected all the required information for the upcoming war and the demon race, and then visited the Dungeon of Sometime to do research for a few years. I believe we will easily win the war, and the research was geared to a personal goal of mine. I have come to a conclusion based on my research, and I believe it will benefit you in supporting me in its realization”
Unlike the bastard hero, Mary went into the dungeon with an elite force with level 80-90s and warped directly to floor 1900. There, they secured an area where Mary continued her magic research for around a decade. The deeper in that dungeon, the thicker the ether flows so time is slowed down more and more. Mary’s research involved testing the effects of her magic, so she safely defeated some monsters as well. With all her hero’s potential, she made it to level 122 before she was warped out of the dungeon.
“Gahahaha! So you think the war this time will be easy! Good, good. You otherworlders are always crazy. Well, Strategist, I shall hear it, this conclusion of yours, and if it aids my country, I shall gladly help you in its fulfillment”
“I see, thank you. Mother, is it alright?”
“Call me Mom!”
“... Speaking from the conclusion. I want to destroy the sun.”
What a splendid use of Ignore. What. I’m using it too. I am completely ignoring that last statement. Yes, my country is big. I have a strong army, and we’re one of the frontrunners in the war against demons. But I wonder, are these people around me, sane?
Cen’s level is certainly above 300, Mary is 122 as far as I know, and Lilith is a complete mystery. I was once at a very high level as well. My peak was at level 345. It is said that people start to lose their sanity after crossing level 100. Thus, Kings usually go through a long ritual of Level Drain if they are too high— they maintain their Skills, but the power is greatly diminished. As such, I chose to stay at the maximum sensible limit for a King, level 99.
“... ... Are you joking?”
“... Yes, that was a joke. Are you satisfied, Mother?”
“Kakaka! Bron’s eyes turning into dots is just so cute I couldn’t help, sorry~”
“Fufufu, I must say I agree with you there, but how about a few stakes for your eyes, Lustful Vampire”
“Kakaka, I commend you for your fine taste in men, but I’d first skin you to the bone, Greedy Vixen”
“Fufufufu”
“Kakakaka”
I was played around with... I, Bron, King of Albama, was made a fool of by a 5000-year-old little girl. I, am used to it. But the topic has been diverted again. Having Cen and Lilith in the same room always creates carnage. Like a spear that penetrates all against a shield that lets none through. Except that both these women hold such a spear and shield, and the everything around them gets annihilated. Let us proceed the talk.
“Mary Fraulein. Since the part about destroying the sun was a joke, I imagine you have something more substantial you can present?”
“King Bron, the part about destroying the sun, the sun you see in the sky is a joke. I still need the energy of a sun, a star, to implement my algorithm. I have already found and calculated the distance to the nearest star we can drain without affecting our solar system too much.”
“... I see. I’m not knowledgeable about the specifics, but for what purpose would you use the energy of this star”
“Why of course, to travel to and from my home world”